She's An Animal
by Call Me Ookami-Chan
Summary: Without a place to go and with powers that could be of use to them, the Justice League takes in Shift, a shifter. Her time spent there doesn't come without consequence. Shift is falling for Batman. As to whether he likes her or not, who knows? Batman/OC
1. 01

**A/N: **Well, I'm having a current addiction to re-watching the episodes of Justice League and Batman is just plain epic, so I wanted to try out a Batman story. I hope that you all enjoy this. I apologize ahead of time if my updating isn't exactly quick. I'm a bit of a procrastinator. I hope you all enjoy this story.

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><p><strong>She's An Animal<strong>

_01_

In the wee hours of the morning, men and women were making their way out of the large tower in the middle of Gotham City. Said tower, Wayne Tower to be exact, was the location of some charity benefit that Bruce Wayne liked to host from time to time. If there was any place for a girl like her to find someone that would take her in or at least a person to donate some money. To be honest, she would prefer someone to take her in so that she could donate some money to herself, as much as she wanted.

Unfortunately, unlike the kind and giving persona these people exuded during their interviews with the press before the benefit started, the people stumbling out of the tower were drunk and not warm and welcoming to her at all. They merely passed by her, acting like fools. Only a few stopped to actually acknowledge her, but then they went on their merry way, leaving her cold and penniless.

When the flood of people stumbling out the front doors of Wayne Tower finally ended, she knew she had lucked out once again. Stealing from anyone but a rich person was something she hated to do, but if she had to survive, she had to survive. Maybe she could find a business that was doing well for itself. Yes, that sounded like a good plan. (Even though there weren't too many businesses doing well for themselves these days in the city.)

Before she walked down the street, she noticed that there was one last couple walking out of the tower. Couple might have been the wrong choice of word since said couple consisted of two men, but it worked and she really needed to stop thinking about what she was thinking and think more about charming the men into bringing her along with them.

As she got closer to the duo (now that was a much better word) she realized that it was Bruce Wayne himself and who must have been his butler. This being her last attempt, she dashed toward the car awaiting Bruce Wayne. When she stopped in front of the door of the car, both men looked down at her.

"It would appear someone wishes for your attention, Master Bruce." The butler commented with a chuckle.

Bruce Wayne raised an eyebrow at her but stepped over her into the car without a word (which really offended her, by the way). When she turned her head around, a hiss of anger escaped her throat, the fur on her back standing on end. The butler chuckled more and picked her up off the ground, stroking her fur.

"How odd," the butler murmured, "this cat isn't purring."

"Alfred, we need to get going." Bruce Wayne said almost impatiently. "I've got business with the League and we can't delay for a cat. Put her back on the street and let's go." He ordered.

_League? _She thought absentmindedly before rubbing her cheek against the butler in gratitude and jumping into the car, sitting right beside the dark-haired man. The rich-boy stared at her hard, expecting her to get scared and run off, but she remained and gave a hiss before curling up on the seat. He sighed in exasperation and wrapped his hands around her, trying to pull her up, but she yowled and hissed, making him automatically set her back down.

"She seems to have made up her mind, Master Bruce." Alfred said.

"We'll deal with the cat later. Let's go."

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><p>The sun was slowly starting to rise over the horizon and she needed to hurry up and find some money or something valuable to take. When she was sure the two men weren't around the room she had found her way to, she sucked in a breath and let her form begin to change.<p>

The process wasn't a long one. On the contrary, it was actually very quick. But it was just so uncomfortable. As her form changed from animal to human, she could feel all her bones morphing, could feel the prickle underneath her fur as it changed to skin, could feel every single thing…and she hated it. She hated everything about this because it was a constant reminder of what she had lost, of the _freak _she had become…

Putting her sudden bout of pessimism to the back of her mind, she looked around the room in human form. The room seemed to be one that Bruce Wayne might do work in, but with how big the mansion was, it was probably some empty room just made to look like a working room to someone that might have accidentally stumbled in. She guessed that he probably hadn't been in this room himself.

"But there's no harm in checking for something." She mused out loud and walked over to the window behind the desk.

Before she looked in the desk, she opened the window just in case Wayne or his butler decided to visit this room. When that task was done, she turned around to look over the desk and found something odd there. It seemed to be a sharp boomerang in the shape of a bat.

Since she was very familiar with the streets of Gotham, she had seen what was left behind in the wake of Batman, and this boomerang happened to be one of those things. Oh, what did the thugs call them when they told others of their encounters with the Dark Knight? Batarang? Ah, that was it.

So, the question of the night was: what was Bruce Wayne doing with a batarang that belonged to Batman on his desk?

Even though it was taking up a lot of her time, she mulled things over in her head. When one gave it a lot of thought, it actually did make sense if the play-boy Bruce Wayne actually was the Dark Knight. After all, he had the motivation (everyone in the city knew about the tragedy of the Wayne family) to fight crime in the city, had the money to make all his gadgets, had spent time in foreign countries to study foreign fighting styles, and had the time to himself to fight crime at night. Since the man was in no serious relationship, it was just his butler here with him to know about him sneaking out every night.

That comment about _the League _earlier was making a lot more sense.

The _shink _of something hitting the wall behind her sounded in the air and she felt the sting of a cut on her cheek. Now on alarm, her golden eyes narrowed at the shadowy figure lurking in the corner of the room.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Batman asked as he stepped into the light of the early morning. She noted that in his raised hand was a batarang.

When she began backing up toward the window, she heard the sound of feet landing on the floor behind her and turned her head around, coming face-to-face with Superman. He was frowning at her, his arms crossed over his chest. She grinned in a mischievous way and formed a mental image.

"Well, boys, this night didn't turn out to be the best for me so I hope you don't mind if I take my leave." Turning her head around, she winked at Batman. "By the way, the name is Shift. Peace out."

Then she was the shape of a fly and buzzing out the window. Superman and Batman might have tried to stop her, but at that size, if they tried catching her they could crush and kill her.

And both those boy scouts would never kill.


	2. 02

**A/N: **Well, here is the second part. I'm actually quite proud of myself for having it up so quickly. And trust me, this is quickly for me. I guess my boyfriend (who is an avid Batman fan) has been the one to motivate me to get new chapters up. I hope I can continue on strongly with this story.

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><p><strong>She's An Animal<strong>

_02_

Ever since her run-in with the two boy scouts, Shift decided she needed to be even more discreet than usual. If she could, she would have stopped the stealing altogether, but a disadvantage of being born in a laboratory is that you're not known about therefore you aren't a legal citizen of the United States, let alone Gotham City. So, getting a job wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do. Plus, she liked to see herself as a Robin Hood of sorts—of course without the giving back to the poor thing, but at least she took back from all those greedy bastards and that at least counted for something, right?

In any sense, she decided that she would have to change up her usual pattern of stealing from the rich. Shift didn't know Bruce Wayne personally, but she had a hunch that he would stop at nothing to find her and throw her away in Arkham Asylum where, if she screamed out his identity, she would merely be passed off as insane. Shift could just imagine the man, waiting outside some other rich man's home in the middle of the night, possibly with the Man of Steel by his side. So, because of this paranoid thought, she had to steal from local businesses from the bad end of town where burglary was just a usual occurrence everyday.

Once she had a decent amount of money in her possession, Shift decided she might spend one more night on the town in Gotham before she headed out. Things were getting hot and she needed to get the hell out of dodge or else the whole Justice League would be on her trail.

As she headed to a popular club in downtown Gotham, she wondered where she'd go to next. Maybe Metropolis—err, with the head boy scout flying around the city, that might not be the best idea. Well, there was Central City—ugh, never mind that one, too, because the Flash resided there.

_Okay, cities with superheroes…yeah, those aren't a good idea, Shift, _she mentally reprimanded herself as she strolled into the club with a random large group, smiling and laughing as if she knew everyone, trying to blend in as best as she could with the people.

Finding an empty booth, Shift ordered a glass of water and remained in her seat. Drinking and dancing were never quite her thing. The thought of drinking frightened her because she feared loosing control and accidentally morphing in front of someone. And when she danced, she felt just plain awkward.

No, the only reason she went to clubs was to submerge herself in the animalistic feeling hanging in the air. It was the closest thing she could get to feeling human—scratch that. It was the closest thing she could do to feeling normal without having to go to the local zoo. She would never be completely human, of course, but it made her feel good on the inside and that's what counted. There were so very few places in this modern world that allowed animalistic behavior—and have it be legal anyway.

And on the subject of being in tune with one's animal side, because she was more animal than human it seemed, she could feel when danger was imminent, could feel when the air shifted while humans remained unknowing. After the air changed into something less animalistic and more malicious, she soon heard them outside, loading their weapons and murmuring amongst one another.

Just as she was getting ready to go to the restroom to shift and sneak her way out in animal form, the front door to the club burst open with an explosion. Screams rang in the air and people started shuffling back as if they would be able to find a way out, but the door in the back was being guarded by henchmen.

Someone started cackling loudly and, along with the rest of the crowd, Shift looked toward the front of the club where a man in a purple suit was standing on a table. The green hair, pale white face, and signature laugh immediately gave away who was in charge of this attack on the club. It was the infamous Joker.

And Shift immediately knew that she needed to get out of the club because she didn't want to deal with being part of a hostage situation where Batman—and probably the whole Justice League—might show up. The last thing she needed was dealing with running away from the Justice League because, even though the girl had some talent, she probably wasn't _that _talented.

"Alright kiddies, here's the deal," the Joker shot off a round into the air making a few women scream in terror, "you're going to be good boys and girls and not do anything stupid…okay?" He waved the gun around at various people, making them cringe and give a few more screams. "I've got a certain Bat and his buddies to deal with and I need their attention." He grinned.

Because she was located near the back of the club, slightly to the side, she could probably inch her way over to the restroom without being noticed. As she was heading back that way, she heard the gun shoot off again and the scent of blood made her cringe. There were audible screams from the back of the club and she turned to see a henchman standing over the dead body of a man.

"Now, who did that?" The Joker yelled from the front of the club.

"Uh, sorry Boss, but he was trying to get out—" the henchman was cut off by a bullet to his head. Shift cringed again and felt sorry for the poor sucker that had to clean up that mess later on.

The Joker shook his head and sighed loudly. "Good help is just so hard to find these days. Isn't it obvious that you only kill the hostages _after _your demands have been made but not met? The Bat hasn't even showed up yet! My demands haven't been made yet!" He threw his hands up in the air, trying to act more dramatic.

Shift absentmindedly wondered why Batman or the Justice League hadn't showed up yet, but then she heard who sounded like Super Man talking to the police outside. _Oh damn it all to hell. I wanted to bail before they showed up. That's what I get for fucking around, _she thought while taking the mental image of a fly in her mind as she slowly made her way to the restroom again.

"Shift?" The hair on the back of her neck rose and she turned around to see who could have possibly snuck up on her, but someone wrapped their arms around her. She's not sure what the hell she was feeling at the moment, but before she knew it, she was on the ground outside the club, surrounded by members of the Justice League.

"How the hell did you do that?" The Flash, who must have been grinning at her distress, pointed toward the green alien standing behind her—the Martian Manhunter—and she groaned. "Well, how the hell did you know I was in there?" Once again, the man behind her was pointed at and she glared at the Batman. "Did you have to tattle on me to all your buddies?"

"A head's up for next time," her gaze moved toward Superman, "don't think so much about being caught by the Justice League." He bent down in front of her. "Now, if you have a conscience, you'll help us stop what's going on inside."

Shift raised an eyebrow and hugged her knees against her chest, pouting, probably looking like a child as she did. "Why does the oh-so-great Justice League need _my _help? Can't your Martian take everyone out?" She grinned mischievously. "Oh, wait. If all the thugs start dropping off like flies, they'll start shooting. And if you all bust in there, that'll be the same outcome."

"You can see we've got our hands tied." The Green Lantern commented with, a what seemed to be, sour tone. Shift assumed that all superheroes disliked being useless when it came to innocent people being in danger.

"Yes, well, I'm not too sure what you want me to do." Shift replied.

"What's your range?" Flash inquired, and when she raised an eyebrow at him, he started making motions with his hands. "What exactly can you do?" He elaborated.

Shift stared at him blankly. "Shift into animals, dumb ass. I thought the name might've given you some clue to that." She looked over the rest of the group that was looking at her mostly with frowns. "If you're asking what animals I'm limited to, it's none. I can change into any animal."

When she heard another gunshot from inside the building, she cringed. "Since I'm going to jail anyway, I might as well go out with a bang, right?" Standing up, she cracked her knuckles. "I'll give you a distraction," she grinned deviously, "a _big _one."

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><p>Batman stood by Superman, watching impassively as the naked woman standing in front of the entrance to the club morphed. After a minute or so, Superman whistled at the sight of a large Tyrannosaurus Rex in place of Shift. The dinosaur—rather, Shift—roared at the club, making the air tremble momentarily. At the sound, henchmen ran out of the club and screamed at sight of the monstrosity before the rest of the League rushed in and took them out.<p>

"You've got to admit, that's pretty impressive. When she said she'd give us a big distraction, she sure delivered." Superman turned to look at Batman. "I know that look. What are you thinking about, Bruce?"

"This one doesn't belong in Arkham, Clark."

Superman paused and looked at the entrance where police were dragging out the Joker then looked back at Batman. "We'll talk about what to do with her later."

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><p>"Oh goodbye freedom, I knew ye long and well, but alas our time with one another has come to its end." Shift announced loudly as her arresting officers dragged her to one of the squad cars outside the club with the Justice League watching over the arrest just in case she decided to make a run for it<p>

"Say goodbye to your sanity, too!" The Joker cackled as he was being put into the back of a squad car—the same one that Shift seemed to be headed to.

"Um, is it a good idea to put me with the guy that I just helped bust?" The blonde woman murmured to no one in particular. "Jeez, a girl helps out the Justice League and doesn't even put up a fight and she still gets treated like shit."

Just as Shift was about to be put in the car, where the Joker was ranting on and on about how much fun the two of them were going to have together, Superman and Batman stepped in the way. Trying to put up a tough act, she didn't breath a sigh of relief, but boy was she glad they were barging in.

"Here to give me a parting 'be a good girl and don't be bad in jail' lecture boys?"

"Why were you stealing when we found you?" Superman asked.

"Because said rich boy I happened to be stealing from could afford to loose some money," she laughed loudly when Batman's gaze narrowed at her, "and a girl needed a bit of cash for food." She added.

"So you have no home?" Flash spoke up from behind her.

Turning her head, she gave him another blank stare. "No shit Sherlock."

"I like her. Can we keep her?" Flash asked, ignoring her sarcastic comment.

Shift bristled and glowered at him. "I'm not some damn stray you can just pick up off the street and bring home."

"We'll provide food and shelter for you. In return, you help us." Shift turned her head back around to stare at Superman who smiled at her. "It's not exactly becoming a part of the League, but it's close enough."

And Batman being Batman had to ruin the mood by adding, "But if you slip up just once, I won't hesitate to send you to Arkham."


End file.
